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Great Falls Tribune
April 28, 2009
SME applies for modified air permit By KARL PUCKETT Tribune Staff Writer Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission is proceeding with plans to construct a natural gas-fired plant instead of a coal-powered facility east of Great Falls. On Friday, SME filed an application with the state Department of Environmental Quality to modify an air quality permit it already has for the coal-fired plant to allow construction of a 120-megawatt natural gas plant. SME, a coalition of rural electric cooperatives, had originally planned the coal-fired facility but in February announced a switch to burn natural gas. SME General Manager Tim Gregori said the cleaner-burning gas facility should address "many of the concerns that have been raised by the folks who have been watching the project" but Richard Liebert, chairman of Citizens for Clean Energy, said it was too soon to say. "We want to look at it and judge it fairly and see where they are going with it," Liebert said. Citizens for Clean Energy and the Montana Environmental Information Agency challenged the original coal-fired plant over emissions of carbon dioxide and particulate. Brent Lignell, a DEQ environmental engineer who is processing the application, said SME has requested a condition that would preclude the simultaneous operation of a coal-fired boiler and gas plant which he said "would be emissions on top of emissions." "It would be one or the other, but not both," Gregori said. SME continues to evaluate the coal-fired power plant, Gregori said. In the application, SME is proposing to burn natural gas in aircraft-type turbines modified for industrial power plant use, Lignell said. The DEQ first must decide if it has enough technical information to make an assessment on the impacts of the facility, Lignell said. It has 30 days to request additional information. The agency is required to have a draft permit issued by the 40th day after receiving the most recent information, he said. Wind generation also will be considered for the site. Gregori said power from the gas plant could be used to "firm" either SME's wind generation or electricity produced at other wind farms. The cooperatives currently purchase all of SME's electricity. "Right now, we've not seen anything that looks any better than building our own generation source," said General Manager Scott Sweeney of Lewistown-based Fergus County Electric. SME still needs to obtain financing for the natural gas project, he said. Additional Facts For more info
Call the DEQ at 444-3490 with questions about the application.
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